Leadership Essays
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Rico ReyesAssistant District Attorney,Travis County District Attorney's Office Leadership Austin Affiliation: 2008 Essential Class Member |
"This I Believe"
I believe the spirit that animates a person and their determination to succeed are the most important factors in leading a life of meaning.
I once worked as a stock broker in Dallas shortly after I graduated from Harvard. I had a small apartment in a place where most residents looked a lot like me. Many were young, some still in school, some still trying to find their way. A few had money, but no ambitions beyond watching the sun set on their carefree youth and admiring other young, tanned and fit residents at the pool. Having come from humble beginnings myself, I was on the way to bigger and better things.
I eventually made friends with a guy in the next building who worked as a waiter at a popular South American Restaurant. He liked to have a good time. I would tell him stories, he would laugh and share his beer with me, and he made great ceviche that I can still taste if I let myself. One night after work, I went over to try a new recipe he’d come up with for plantains, and I saw a roll bag and a sleeping mat on the floor in the corner.
“Friends staying over?” I asked.
“No, just a new bus boy at the restaurant. He doesn’t have anywhere to go yet, so I’m letting him stay with me for a while. His name is Noune... he’s from Honduras.”
“Wow. Looks like he’s really been studying hard” I said, as I pointed to a tattered, thoroughly marked-up, dog-eared, Spanish-to-English dictionary with no cover.
“Yah, he’s working a double shift tonight, but you can meet him tomorrow.”
“The brokerage house is keeping me pretty busy these days, at least 12 hours a day, but I’ll stop by if I can,” I replied.
The next day, I was home by 9:00 p.m., and as promised I stopped by my friend’s place. Only Noune wasn’t there. He had gotten another double shift.
Well, one day turned into the next. I never did get that formal introduction, but somehow, I still feel as though I got to know Noune. A couple of months later, I got up early to be at my desk by 6:30 a.m. As the sun was rising, I saw Noune energetically selling newspapers. He confidently called out, half asking and half commanding “You need a newspaperrr!?” running in and out of traffic before the light turned. A couple of weeks later, I got off of work early – around 5:30—and there was Noune. Shirtless, with a wet t-shirt over his head, striding under the Texas sun over blacktop asphalt, two fists in the air, covered with bus soot, asking and commanding “Roses! You need Roses?!”
And the scene…never…changed. When I went to work, Noune was there. When I got off of work, Noune was there. When I went to visit my friend at the restaurant, this hardworking Noune was there.
Eventually, I got enough experience and saved enough money to get my MBA. But before I moved out, I just had to meet Noune. Unfortunately for me, Noune had moved out first. When I told my friend how disappointed I was and how much I had wanted to meet Noune, he only laughed and said “Man, he comes from humble beginnings, but he’s on his way to bigger and better things!”
When I was a younger man, I valued pure talent and intellect. I felt that brilliance was the key to success and that one could figure out the answers along the way. I’ve since learned that brilliance is not enough. Talent without focus frequently develops people of interest, but those people often live within themselves and may be unable to translate their ideas into tangible results. No matter what talents one may have, determination allows you to martial your resources toward a specific goal. It is like a compass or your personal north star. Determination to keep moving no matter what obstacles you encounter along the way can give you strength when you are weak and confidence when you fail. It can provide inspiration to others along the way, and it can ignite all other virtues.
I don’t know where Noune is today, but I am pretty certain he continues to strive for bigger and better things for himself and for his family. The spirit that animates the biological marionette is what counts. Until we shuffle off this mortal coil, determination is what reveals it. This I believe.